It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown
It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown is the fifteenth animated TV special based on the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. It first aired on CBS on March 16, 1976. It is the first animated cartoon in which Rerun van Pelt appears. This special was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Special. Plot To celebrate Arbor Day, everybody works together to plant a garden, after Sally was humiliated in class by not understanding the purpose, her response being "Oh, that's simple. That's the day when all the ships come sailing into the arbor!". Unfortunately, the garden is located in Charlie Brown's baseball field, and he has a game with Peppermint Patty's team approaching. However, Charlie Brown works to make the best of the situation by attaching baseball gloves to the trees as well as caps (to make them look like scarecrows), which results in Peppermint Patty's team being unable to score due to the large number of fly outs from the balls being hit into the gloves. Schroeder says he will kiss Lucy if she hits a home run, which he figures she will not. However, Charlie Brown is happy to see that Lucy indeed hits a home run and scores the only run in the game. The game is cut short by rain, and although Charlie Brown expresses agony that "We were winning!", he accepts it as a de facto victory and one of the few times his baseball team has won a game. Notes *At one point, when Lucy and Frieda are talking to each other in the outfield, their dialogue is backmasked. When played backwards, you hear Sally saying, "Boy if I get off this bus..." which was recorded for Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown, which was most likely recorded around the same time, and Lucy saying, "Meet me at home plate..." *Stock footages were reused from Snoopy, Come Home, There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown. Soundtrack #"Rerun's Lament" #"Eighty-Nine Bottles of Beer" (vocal, by cast) #"Rerun's Lament" #"Ships Sail into Arbor" #"Laughter in the Library" #"Flatten Platten" (vaguely similar to "Baseball Theme") #"Young Man's Fancy" #"Jay Sterling Morton Jazz" (vaguely similar to "Christmas Time Is Here") #"We're the Visiting Team" (also vaguely similar to "Christmas Time Is Here") #"Seeds for Thought" (vaguely similar to "Joe Cool") #"Don't Forget the Shovel" (also vaguely similar to "Christmas Time Is Here") #"Sprinkle Your Bird" #"Flatten Platten" (vaguely similar to "Baseball Theme") #"Snoopy at Bat" #"Lucy's Home Run" (again, vaguely similar to "Christmas Time Is Here") #"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (vocal, by cast) #"Lucy's Home Run" (vaguely similar to "Christmas Time Is Here" #"Rain, Gentle Rain" (vaguely similar to "Rain, Rain, Go Away") #"Happy Arbor Day, Charlie Brown" #"Lucy's Home Run" (vaguely similar to "Christmas Time Is Here") Goodbye Guaraldi Vince Guaraldi had composed the soundtrack to the TV special, which was his final opus. After work, he went to a Howard Johnson's where he had been staying in San Francisco, but was later found dead at the desk in his room. An autopsy revealed that Guaraldi had died of myocardial infarction. Although some critics gave It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown ''low marks due to celebrating an obscure holiday, many have regarded it as the swan song of Charlie Brown music, as later Peanuts specials often lacked the jazzy tones Guaraldi was known for. Voice cast *Dylan Beach – Charlie Brown *Gail Davis – Sally Brown *Liam Martin – Linus van Pelt *Sarah Beach – Lucy van Pelt *Vinny Dow – Rerun van Pelt/"Pig-Pen" *Greg Felton – Schroeder *Stuart Brotman – Peppermint Patty *Michelle Muller – Frieda *Bill Melendez – Snoopy/Woodstock *Peter Robbins – Vocal effects (uncredited) Marcie, Franklin, 5, Patty, and Violet appear, but are silent. External links *[[IMDB:tt0074697|''It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown on the Internet Movie Database.]] *[http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/28563-Its-Arbor-Day-Charlie-Brown It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown on the Big Cartoon Database.] *[http://www.allmovie.com/movie/its-arbor-day-charlie-brown-v25540 It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown on AllMovie.] es:Es el día del árbol, Carlitos Category:TV specials Category:Holidays Category:1976 Category:Baseball Category:TV specials featuring Charlie Brown Category:TV specials featuring Sally Brown Category:TV specials featuring Peppermint Patty Category:TV specials featuring Rerun van Pelt Category:Emmy Award nominated programs Category:TV specials featuring Schroeder Category:TV specials featuring Linus van Pelt Category:TV specials featuring Lucy van Pelt Category:TV specials featuring Frieda Category:TV specials featuring Snoopy Category:TV specials featuring Woodstock Category:TV specials featuring Marcie Category:TV specials featuring Franklin Category:TV specials featuring 555 95472 Category:TV specials featuring Violet Gray Category:TV specials featuring Patty Category:It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown